If core facility support is required, projects should propose to work with one of the following INBRE-supported facilities:

• • Bioinformatics Core/Computational, Data Storage and Analysis Facility at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Homayoun Valafar, Director (Email, 803-777-2404).

  • NMR facility at Claflin University, Dr. Arezue Boroujerdi, Director (Email, 803-535-5536)

  • Microarray Facility at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Michael Shtutman, (Email, 803-777-8988)

  • Proteogenomics Core Facility at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Jeremy Barth, Director (Email, 843-792-9984)

  • Instrumentation Resource Facility at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Dr. Austin Worden, Director (Email, 803-216-3823)

If utilizing the services of a core facility, applicants must work with facility directors to plan the proposed experiments. A letter of support from the chosen facility’s Director, or a quote if using a commercial facility, must be included in the proposal. 

If the technical services required by the project cannot be provided by any of the listed facilities, or the project is based upon existing collaborations that involve the use of other resources, it is acceptable to use other service providers, in or outside South Carolina, but a justification must be provided.

The computational and data storage resources of SC INBRE’s Bioinformatics Core are also available to SC INBRE DRP applicants.  To access these resources, contact the Bioinformatics Core Director, Dr. Homayoun Valafar (homayoun@cec.sc.edu, 803-777-2404).

DRP Proposals are solicited from faculty at all institutions of higher education that participate in the SC INBRE network, including CRUs, Network PUIs and Outreach/Alumni PUIs. Eligible applicants include:

1. Tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professors at participating SC INBRE network member/outreach/alumni PUIs.

2. Tenure-track Assistant or Associate Professors at network CRUs.

3. Non-tenure track or research faculty, at CRUs or PUIs, who will attain tenure-track status with the successful completion of a DRP are also welcome to apply, but must provide a letter from their Department Chair committing to this change of status.

4. PUI or CRU faculty at later stages of their career who lack current NIH funding and intend to utilize SC INBRE support to re-tool or change fields of interest and re-gain competitiveness for independent funding can also apply, provided that they abide by all requirements of the this FOA (including working with a scientific advisor).

5. Applicants must meet the eligibility requirements for, but not have current substantial NIH funding as PIs or as contact PIs in multiple PI grants. Faculty who are PI’s of R01, R21, R15, NSF CAREER Award or are currently IDeA program-funded faculty are not eligible* to apply. R03-funded investigators, or faculty with other sources of funding, can apply if the proposed project extends upon or is unrelated to the currently funded studies.

6. Competitive renewal applications from current DRP recipients for one additional year of support if they have been awarded less than three years of support in total.

*NIH NIGMS Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) Program has five main components: COBRE, INBRE, IDeA-CTR, Co-Funding, and I-RED.

**Only one proposal per funding period will be accepted from any faculty. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Prior DRP recipients having received three years of funding are not eligible to apply.

Applications will be reviewed by the SC INBRE Administrative Core personnel to determine responsiveness to the FOA, eligibility of the applicant, completeness of the application, and information regarding human subjects and vertebrate animals.  Applications deemed incomplete, ineligible, or not responsive will be returned to the applicants.

All proposals that meet the eligibility requirements and guidelines will be independently evaluated by SC INBRE’s Scientific Review Committee.  Reviewers will apply the following review criteria:

• Scientific merit of the proposed project as evidenced in the significance, innovation, and approach section of the proposal; the project must be relevant to Biomedical Sciences.

• Potential to lead to a competitive extramural grant proposal and potential for publication

• Qualifications of project personnel

• Broader impact within the INBRE network, including involvement of underrepresented minorities within the research team: African-Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics or Latinos, Native Americans, women, and/or persons with disabilities.

• Qualifications of advisors and quality/appropriateness of career development plan

• Quality of proposed training plans for students

Final decisions on funding will be made by the SC INBRE External Advisory Committee and NIGMS.

All applicants will receive a notice of award/declination and copies of the reviewers’ comments via email.  Award recipients are required to provide the SC INBRE Administrative Core with project data for evaluation and reporting purposes, as follows:

1. DRP award recipients are expected to present their results at the annual SC INBRE Scientific Symposium.

2. Award recipients will be contacted quarterly to request updates on the supported activity, summary of expenditures, and any project achievements to date (students trained, publications, presentations, proposals submitted/funded).  DRP award recipients are expected to publish their results and present them at regional and/or national conferences.  Awardees are also expected to apply for extramural support as soon as possible during or after the completion of their DRP award work.

3. A comprehensive final report is due 30 days after the end date of the award.

4. All publications, resulting even in part from work supported by SC INBRE, must acknowledge SC INBRE support and a PMCID must be obtained for each publication in a timely fashion.  PMCID information must be provided to the SC INBRE administrative staff as soon as available.

5. DRP award recipients are expected to obtain an NIH Commons ID for all student and post-doctoral participants.

After the expiration date of each award, SC INBRE will continue to contact awardees for outcome-related data such as grants, publications, etc.  Failure to provide any requested materials for award or evaluation purposes will constitute default under this program and disqualify the DRP recipient from further SC INBRE support.

DRP applications for grant year Sept 1, 2024 to Aug 31, 2025 should be written for one-year projects as this is the last year of the INBRE Cycle IV grant.  If INBRE V is funded, there will be an opportunity for new proposals and competitive renewals.

The application forms package can be downloaded from the SC INBRE website in a fillable, pdf format. All forms must be completed according to the NIH guidelines for “R” series awards. Each package includes the following:

• • Face Page:  This page must be filled out in its entirety and signed by an authorized institutional representative.

  • Project Summary/Performance site/Key personnel:  Fill out all components and indicate whether or not the project uses human embryonic stem cells.

  • Biographical Sketch of PI and other Key PersonneI (NIH-format)

  • Biographical Sketch(es) Example (NIH format)

  • Budget Page:  Enter direct costs only; total cannot exceed $50,000; enter costs for ONE year of funding only.

  • Budget Justification: Allowable costs include personnel; supplies; travel; equipment; and other costs as allowed on NIH research project grant budgets, including indirect costs.

  • Project Description:  Proposals must be prepared with 0.5" margins all around, using Arial (or similar sans serif font; font size no smaller than 11pt) and subdivided into sections indicated below (page limits are noted):

    1. • Introduction/Response to Reviewers’ Comments (for resubmissions only): 1 page

       • Progress report (for DRP competitive renewals only): 2 pages

       • For current DRP awardees seeking a third year of funding, indicate how the additional funding will be crucial for a proposal submission within this third year or how funds will be used to address reviews from a previous proposal submission. There should be new specific aim(s) for the renewal.

  •  Specific Aims: 1 page

  • Significance, Innovation, and Approach: up to 6 pages. All applicants need to address scientific premise (part of Significance), rigor and reproducibility, and relevant biological variables (both under Approach)

  • Literature cited: 1 page

  • Human Subjects. Projects involving human subjects must already have IRB approval at the time of proposal application. This includes projects that are deemed to be exempt by their institutions.

    1. • Please include the IRB Letter in your proposal application.

       • Please include a certificate of training in HS research (CITI) for all study personnel in your proposal application.

       • Human subject research must complete the appropriate required forms (see links to forms at bottom of page).

No activities involving human subjects can be initiated without appropriate IRB approval of the protocol. Applications with human subjects that do not have prior IRB approval will not be reviewed.

• • Vertebrate Animals (1 page). If the project involves vertebrate animals, provide the following in your proposal: 1) a description of procedures; 2) justification for model used; 3) address minimization of pain and distress; and 4) method of euthanasia according to NIH guidelines (see https://olaw.nih.gov/guidance/vertebrate-animal-section.htm for additional information). Note: Submit your animal protocol for approval while you are preparing your DRP application  if you do not already have it approved.

Research involving vertebrate animals must be approved by the IACUC before work on the project can begin.

• • Biosafety (1 page; if necessary). Discuss the biosafety aspects of the proposed work and, if necessary, file for approval from the Institutional Biosafety Committee as you prepare your proposal to SC INBRE. If there are no biohazards, please state so.

  • Data Sharing Plan (1 page). Describe the plan, consistent with NIH data/resource sharing policies (https://grants.nih.gov/policy/sharing.htm), for sharing of research data/resources generated. A sample plan is available on this website.

  • Authentication of Key Biological/Chemical Resources (1 page). Describe methods/procedures for validating the identity of significant biological/chemical agents used.

  • Plans for Further Development of the Work (1 page). Describe plans for publication and how you plan to use the data in grant proposals; if possible, mention specific opportunities for funding; new collaborations.

  • Plans for training of students/postdoctoral fellows under the award (1 page). Formal training plans are not allowed but activities designed to improve student research capabilities can be described. Make sure to include opportunities for training in lab safety and responsible conduct of research.

    1. • CRU applicants: Explain what role the students will have in the project and how participation in the project will help develop the students’ research and intellectual skills and help them mature as scientists. Provide details of interactions between faculty member and students/fellows.

       • PUI applicants: Include a description of how the proposed research will be accomplished with an undergraduate research team. How will the students be trained and supervised in conducting research (involvement in experimental design, execution, and data analysis)?

  • Faculty Career Development Plan (2 pages).  Each applicant will select two advisors: a career advisor from the applicant’s institution and a scientific advisor who should be an established investigator in the applicant’s scientific area (i.e. senior collaborator).  A written plan describing the contribution each advisor will make to the scientific and career advancement of the applicant, along with any planned activities the applicant will take part in to foster his/her career development, must accompany each application. The plan should indicate the frequency of meetings between the applicant and their advisors, contributions advisors played in proposal preparation, and indicate goals and milestones for the applicant’s career progression. Financial support can be requested if the scientific advisor is devoting significant time commitment to guiding the DRP applicant.

  • Letter of support from Advisors. Each individual listed as an advisor must provide a letter of support

  • Biographical sketches of Advisors (NIH format)

  • Checklist: This is the page where the indirect costs associated with the project are calculated and shown. 

• Human Subjects Form and Instructions

• Human Subjects Exempt Form

• Human Subjects Attachment Packet

• Human Subjects Clinical Trials Form